Logo rework (Primary Logo 1997/98–2006/07)

I’ve taken another crack at a redesign (or rather a simplification) of an existing Sens logo.

I can’t help it, but I just keep coming back to this one:

The primary logo from seasons 1997/98–2006/07.

I’m amazed at just how much love it gets. I’ve tried rationalizing it and there’s only one reasonable explanation; the current logo is so universally detested that Sens fans are grasping at straws for a replacement. And what better place to look than the past, where feelings of nostalgia make it appealing.

So I challenged myself to elevate it and make it a bit more interesting without changing any of the structural components.

This isn’t the first time I’ve tackled this logo, but my last effort was a willy-nilly, anything goes, time-waster. Some pointed out it had an AHL feel to it, which I don’t disagree with. I have a natural tendency to go down the animation/comic book route (ie. Bingo’s iteration of the Centurion, which is illustrative and has far too much detail to be an effective logo).

@Le_Collectif / @Rocket57 did a really nice job with their interpretation, but I think they’re being far too kind, leaving it largely intact. (Note: their 25th Anniversary logo is a masterpiece worthy of induction into the HHOF).

My goal this time was to try to arrive somewhere in the middle.

Right off the bat, the things I wanted to address were:
1.) removing all those nasty/uniform/90’s-era Adobe Illustrator outlines
2.) adding some visual appeal by varying the line widths
3.) simplifying the awkward shapes and eliminating the troublesome areas

Here’s the result:

And here’s a summary of changes:

Let me know what you think!

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Side note: This doesn’t change my stance RE: how we should disband the Centurion theme altogether and make the ‘O’ the primary, secondary and tertiary logo. It’s by far the best thing we have going for us. It’s so strong/simple/timeless and serves as a perfect basis for other branding opportunities (tribute patches, anniversary logos, etc).

You can check out my first logo study here where I simplified the pre-launch logo.